[andrewla]

Ugh... replacing one vague and undefined word with three vague and undefined words (I'm including "having" because that's a hard one to nail down in context).

    function i_am_conscious(x) { return x + Math.random(); }

This function has a subjective experience.

To avoid any discussion of consciousness becoming a discussion of the meaning of the word "consciousness" we have to accept that consciousness (like everything else in the real world) is not a boolean property, but rather a subjective "I know it when I see it" sort of thing. Or in Bayesian terms, it's a weighted evaluation of evidence against a vast array of mostly unknown priors.

That's why I think it will sneak up on us; there will be systems that some very small group of people (mostly crazy) think are conscious, then systems that a slightly larger group of people (maybe more crazy, maybe less) think are conscious, until one day You wake up and realize that You are one of the crazy people.

But directed attempts to satisfy some definition of "consciousness" in a system will just result in a counterexample to that definition.